Patent document EP 1976603 discloses an apparatus for playing by means of launching projectiles in the form of balls comprising two ball propulsion devices and a playing surface on which the projected balls slide.
The apparatus has a horizontal substrate that is raised with respect to the playing surface, provided with a series of apertures in which the playing pieces are inserted with a certain tightness such that they remain erect while they are duly inserted in the substrate and the pegs of the pieces housed in the apertures of the substrate project or protrude below the level of said substrate.
In the game, the propulsion devices must be operated so that the launched projectiles hit the pegs of the aforementioned pieces, such that they cause them to be dislodged from the apertures of the substrate and accordingly, the playing pieces do not remain erect, being able to notify the players that a projectile has hit one of the pieces.
The apparatus described above has several drawbacks that the present invention seeks to resolve.
Firstly, it is observed that the pieces are not satisfactorily released or dislodged from the substrate when hit by a ball. This is because the main component of the force transmitted by a ball when it hits the peg of a piece follows a direction that is essentially parallel to that of the path of the ball, in other words essentially perpendicular to the peg of the piece, whereas in order to dislodge a piece, the ideal direction that the force must follow is vertical, in the direction in which the peg must be displaced in order to dislodge it from its corresponding aperture. Accordingly, despite the fact that a peg is hit by a ball it is possible that the corresponding piece is not duly dislodged from the substrate.
In addition, despite the fact that a piece is dislodged from the substrate, it is knocked down on the same substrate, making it difficult to see the game when the substrate is transparent.
Therefore, an objective of the present invention is an apparatus in which when the projectiles reach a predetermined target it is assured that the associated playing piece or pieces are dislodged from the substrate. Another objective of the present invention is an apparatus whereby said dislodged pieces do not remain on the substrate, or at least on the part of the substrate arranged immediately above the playing surface.
According to another objective of the present invention, a suitable solution is sought so that rather than the pieces being merely knocked down, they are flung out of or expelled from their original position with sufficient force so that they fall off the substrate, increasing the feeling of having hit the target.